This short paper suggests that Ireland should reduce its road transport emissions using Cap and Share, as a more focussed alternative to a carbon tax. The advantages of using this approach are included below or you can download the entire paper.…
Reports
reports and studies produced by Feasta or for Feasta
Envisioning a Sustainable Ireland from an Energy Availability Perspective
The team working on the Envisioning Ireland’s Energy Futures project for the Irish Environmental Protection Agency has submitted this report. Feasta will hold a one-day seminar to discuss its conclusions when the EPA publishes it in the Autumn. The strongest conclusion is the need to move to a low-carbon economy as rapidly as possible, even if this slows down economic growth. The report also anticipates the development of rural biorefineries and the re-location to the countryside of energy-intensive manufacturing so as to be close to renewable energy sources.
A detailed overview of this paper is included below, or you can …
The ENLIVEN report
Energy Networks Linking Innovation in Villages in Europe Now
The ENLIVEN project is a cross sector partnership led by Irish Rural Link. Partners are: Offaly County Council; Feasta, the Foundation for the Economics of Sustainability; Dundalk Institute of Technology; Methanogen; EOS Architects; Martin Langton, Developer; Pauric Davis and Associates, Engineers; Michael Layden, Community Energy Consultant; Sean Riordan, Developer.
Executive Summary
Historically, communities developed in places where resources were available. Today however, many rural communities are in decline because the use of fossil fuels has devalued their renewable energy sources, made the growing of many non-food crops irrelevant, and exposed their food products to price competition from places where land is more abundant.
This project is based on the premise that the tide may be about to turn. Restrictions on the use of fossil fuel in response to the threat of climate change and because of oil and gas depletion are about to make energy supplies scarcer and more costly. Handled correctly, this could create the circumstances in which rural communities will again be able to grow by developing their local resources, particularly those of energy.
To Catch the Wind: The Potential for Community Ownership of Wind Farms in Ireland
Download the entire document as one PDF file (5 MB)
A publication of the Renewable Energy Partnership, June 2004
Ireland has one of the most promising, untapped energy resources to be found anywhere in Europe – wind energy. It is one of the few sectors in which the West of Ireland in particular has a major competitive advantage over almost every other region in Europe.
It was for this reason that, early in 2002, the Renewable Energy Partnership (REP), which consists of Brí Nua Community Wind Energy Group, Mayo Community Wind Energy Group and the Western Development Commission (WDC), began …
Fossil Fuels Subsidies and Emissions of Greenhouse Gases from Fossil Fuels
A report to Comhar, the National Sustainable Development Partnership, by Feasta and Friends of the Irish Environment.
The full version can be downloaded as a PDF Version.…
Notes for the UK Sustainable Development Commission, re Redefining Prosperity
By John Jopling for Feasta, October 2003
This submission argues that the Sustainable Development Commission has thus far tended to emphasise symptoms of global problems rather than their root causes. In particular, it argues that the SDC should consider the role played by the global financial system in the world economy, and the link between debt-based money and the pressure on economies to expand indefinitely.
The full text can be found below or downloaded as a PDF version…
